(Caroline Summers/Samford)From SamfordSports.com
A late comeback fell just short as the Samford football
team dropped a 20-13 decision in a Southern Conference game at
Chattanooga Saturday evening at Finley Stadium.
Samford head coach Pat Sullivan was not in attendance at the game while recovering from a slight relapse of pneumonia. Bill D'Ottavio, Samford's assistant head coach and defensive coordinator led the team in Sullivan's absence.
"You have to give credit to Chattanooga, they made the plays," D'Ottavio
said. "I thought both sides fought really well and I was proud of our
kids' effort. In the end we came up just a little short."
Samford trailed, 20-3, entering the fourth quarter. Cameron Yaw kicked a 47-yard field goal with 12:13 to go to cut the lead to 20-6. Fabian Truss scored a touchdown on a one-yard run with 3:35 left in the game, and Yaw added the extra point to make the score 20-13.
The Bulldogs had one final shot to score and tie the game. Samford drove to the Chattanooga 41-yard line, but Andy Summerlin's pass on the final play of the game fell incomplete in the end zone, ending the Bulldogs' chances.
With the loss, Samford drops to 5-3 overall and 3-3 in Southern
Conference play. Chattanooga improves to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in league
play.
In the game, Summerlin completed 27-of-40 passes for 191 yards and one interception. Kelsey Pope
caught 12 passes for 78 yards. Truss scored the Bulldogs' lone
touchdown of the game, and rushed 11 times for 29 yards in the loss.
Defensively for Samford, Durell Hill led the way with 12 tackles. Keith Shoulders followed with nine stops. Yaw made both of his field goal attempts, including a school-record 52-yarder in the second quarter.
As a team, Samford finished with 259 yards of total offense, to 250
yards for Chattanooga. Samford had 16 first downs, compared to 13 for
the Mocs. UTC had the ball for 33:07, while Samford kept the ball for
26:53 of the game.
